Watercolor Lessons

Watercolor Lessons:

Now I'm not going to write down on this page like a text book. As you can read these sorts of things in any book.  I want to tell you how I find watercolor, and what you may find yourself.

Watercolor being mainly water, means that its flow is going to be a bit wild, just as using real water.

 Though, you can use this to your advantage, and even make good of mistakes. Just remember... you may recognize them as mistakes, yet they could add to your painting. And

You can make watercolor paints very translucent in color. Now this can be a good thing, and can also go the other way on you.

"It is my dream to create an art which is filled with balance, purity and calmness, freed from a subject matter that is disconcerting or too attention-seeking. In my paintings, I wish to create a spiritual remedy, similar to a comfortable armchair which provides rest from physical expectation for the spiritually working, the businessman as well as the artist". ~Henri Matisse

Watercolor can make a painting seem like a dream. The light, almost carefree, the way its colors lay upon the surface, can give the effect as though you are looking right through them onto the paper surface beneath. Almost like a filter that you would use on a camera when you want to change the color tone of your pictures.

With watercolors, you can create a painting just with one color paint on its own. And by layering different consistencies of the one watercolor, you can add shape, texture and balance to your painting alone.

You decide how much water you want to add to the paint, in this way you can have free flowing paint that you can literally just move your piece of paper around, and let the paint flow over the paper, making different patterns.

I think that experimentation, especially with watercolor is part of learning to work with this paint. And once mastered, there can be no limits to what you could do, with time and patience.

Layering is also another way of pulling your water colures into line. From using paint mixed with lots of water, and gradually lessoning the water in the paint, you will get stronger color. To the point of almost dry brushing ( if you can dry brush with water paint) anyway.. you get the idea!

You can see by some examples above that the use of color mixing either with one color or more than one color. The blending of colures is just so natural. After all..... you are really just mixing two lots of water together, with different tints. You let the water do the rest

The use of materials other than brushes is encouraged. The

Its wonderful, and can become what ever you want it to be...

In these watercolor lessons, they could become the pattern of a shrub, snow flakes, to a rain. Depending on how you wish to use it.

As I mentioned before, like watercolor - being an almost paint that takes on a life of its own. You can let effects take form in front of you, then decide what you are going to do with them.

And as you progress, you will learn how to tame them, and use these effects to different parts in you picture.

Watercolor Papers

In watercolor lessons, I want to discuss with you about different papers for watercolor, which can either be thin, thick, ridged and smooth in appearance. Depending on what sort of painting you, do. Just remember the thickness and materials of what the paper is made of, will also be the difference of how quickly the paper will soak up the watercolor and its drying time.

This is something your going to have to experiment with. The less the water in your colures, the least lightly your going to have runaway paint.

Watercolor & Ink

Adding other mediums to watercolors, sure you can.... One I like the most is using pen and ink. This style of using pen and watercolor is really another watercolor lesson again. And I will cover it because